Cheap no more: What do EU’s new e-commerce rules mean for low-price platforms?

• ‘These changes are really focused on removing the price advantage these platforms have,’ says e-commerce industry analyst Juozas Kaziukenas
• Lea Auffret from BEUC says measures intended to combat fiscal fraud, address concerns over unsafe product
• ‘European market is now perhaps the most hostile to these platforms,’ says Kaziukenas

The European Union has been tightening rules on ultra-fast online shopping platforms through customs duties and consumer regulations, increasing pressure on businesses built around low prices and direct shipments from Asia.

The EU introduced a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value parcels from outside the bloc on July 1, ending a long-standing exemption for imports valued below €150.

The measure aims to address what EU institutions describe as unfair competition, customs fraud, unsafe products and the environmental impact of the huge volume of individual parcels entering the bloc.

The European Parliament has since approved a broader reform of the EU Customs Code that will treat platforms facilitating direct sales from outside the EU as importers and introduce a separate handling fee by Nov. 1, 2026, at the latest.

The changes come as platforms including Shein and Temu have expanded rapidly in Europe by offering large volumes of inexpensive products, many shipped directly from China to consumers.

As pressure on such platforms grows, questions are emerging over how the measures are affecting their prices, supply chains and business models, as well as European consumers.

Why is the EU changing the rules?

“For many years Chinese platforms like Shein, Temu and AliExpress have enjoyed not paying tariffs when they're importing goods into Europe as well as in the US and other countries, and effectively that allowed them to offer better prices than local retailers,” Juozas Kaziukenas, an e-commerce industry analyst, told Anadolu.

He said the new European measures were primarily aimed at removing part of that price advantage.

“I mean there are concerns for consumerism but predominantly these changes are really focused on removing the price advantage these platforms have and thus make the competition more fair,” he said.

Lea Auffret, head of international affairs at the European Consumer Organization (BEUC), told Anadolu the growth of online shopping had fundamentally changed the scale of goods entering the EU.

“At the beginning e-commerce was really small in Europe and then it became this tsunami of parcels,” she said.

Auffret said the measures were intended to combat fiscal fraud, address concerns over unsafe products and create a more level playing field for European companies competing with goods imported from abroad.

What impact are the new rules having?

Kaziukenas described the impact of these changes as “devastating” to platforms such as Shein and Temu.

“Because for especially the cheapest items it often increased the total order price, sometimes double of what it was before,” he said.

He said the platforms had responded differently, with Temu listing a separate fee while Shein raised prices to accommodate the additional cost.

The impact, he added, extended beyond prices to the companies' efforts to attract new customers.

“Actually these platforms have chosen to really pause their push in Europe drastically,” Kaziukenas said.

He said the platforms' apps had quickly fallen out of the top 100 in app stores across European countries, as the companies had paused marketing spending.

“The European market is now perhaps the most hostile to these platforms,” Kaziukenas added.

Auffret, meanwhile, said it was too early to establish whether consumers were permanently changing their shopping habits and shifting toward European retailers.

“We are seeing right now a huge decrease,” Auffret said, referring to estimates ranging from 30% to 70% for the decline in parcel volumes.

The impact has also been reported at logistics hubs.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF reported that arrivals of small parcels from Shein and Temu at Belgium's Liege airport had halved after the European duty was introduced.

Meanwhile, French customs estimated that imports of small parcels have fallen by 30% to 40% overall in the EU.

Who ultimately pays the cost?

“So the final customer is paying the tariffs. It's not the importer or the retailer that is paying the tariffs,” Kaziukenas said.

Auffret said the platforms can decide how they absorb the cost, by potentially passing them on by raising the prices on their platforms.

“Others are asking consumers to pay for import charges and so they can see in their baskets like you have an import charge,” she said.

Despite the higher prices, Kaziukenas said the platforms could retain some of their appeal because their products remain relatively inexpensive.

“The value proposition of these platforms is low prices,” he said, underlining that the measure would “not reduce their use to zero.”

“Quite many of these items are still cheap enough or still cheaper than the perhaps local alternatives,” he added.

How will warehouses change the business model?

The new rules are also encouraging platforms to adapt their supply chains, including by importing goods in larger quantities and using warehouses within the bloc.

Poland provides one example, with Shein having opened a large hub near Wroclaw in 2025.

“These tariff changes globally didn't come as a shock. Everyone knew they were coming, including the platforms, and they have been preparing for them for years to diversify their supply chain to build local warehouses as well as recruit local sellers,” Kaziukenas said.

He said Temu had been more successful in diversifying its supply of goods, while Shein faced greater difficulties because of the large number of new designs it introduces each day.

“Ultra-fast fashion model doesn't really work well when you have to localize inventory and when you have to ship it in bulk and store it before the customer places an order,” Kaziukenas said.

Kaziukenas said Shein remained heavily reliant on China despite its efforts to diversify.

“China is still its biggest source and that will remain its biggest source despite its efforts to localize and diversify its supply chain,” he added.

Auffret, meanwhile, said importing goods in bulk could also make customs controls more effective.

“If you have 20,000 of the same products in one big container or in a plane it's much easier than having to control 20,000 different small parcels with different products,” she noted.

How about France’s separate approach?

While the EU has introduced customs measures for low-value parcels, France has pursued additional measures targeting ultra-fast fashion.

France introduced a levy on ultra-fast-fashion products in September, particularly affecting platforms such as Shein and Temu. The levy is due to increase over time and could reach nearly €20 per item by 2030.

Kaziukenas said France had been particularly active in its approach toward Shein.

He said much of the criticism of Shein overlooked similarities between its products and those sold by retailers such as H&M and Zara, arguing that differences largely stemmed from supply-chain advantages and direct shipping from China.

Kaziukenas nevertheless supported regulation addressing environmental and ethical standards, while questioning the focus on particular companies.

“Any regulation that is focused specifically on these kind of Chinese retailers around clothing (...) ignores the bigger issues again surrounding the clothing industry,” Kaziukenas added.

Meanwhile, Auffret said retailers such as H&M and Zara generally buy products in bulk and take greater responsibility for quality and compliance, unlike online marketplaces that consider themselves intermediaries between sellers and consumers.

She further noted that the French measure was an “eco-contribution” based on the polluter-pays principle, intended to address products on the market that are difficult to repair.

“You have this massive influx of clothes of bad quality with chemicals that are above the legal limits,” she said, cautioning that this could create difficulties for recycling systems.

“It's important that people realize that there are a lot of hidden costs for your health, for your safety, for the environment in buying this ultra cheap product,” Auffret added.

What does the future hold for Shein and Temu?

Auffret said there will be new obligations for marketplaces in 2028, “to ensure that what they are selling online complies with product safety law.”

She described the changes as a “big game changer.”

For Kaziukenas, the new rules will force Chinese platforms to adapt, but the underlying demand for inexpensive products is unlikely to disappear.

“To me the whole value proposition of Shein has been so centered around this ultra fast fashion, (…) that it's hard to somehow abandon that and start doing something else,” he said.

Kaziukenas also noted that such changes would not mean for companies to stop operating completely.

He added that demand for affordable goods would remain.

“Many customers are always looking to save money. And these platforms found ways to benefit from that. And they had many years of success,” Kaziukenas noted.

For now, he said, the platforms were entering a period of adjustment in Europe as they cut marketing spending and sought new ways to operate under the changing rules.

“So it will also be a reset year for these platforms,” he said.